Celebrating the great Canadian game. Tracking the NHL, the Canadian teams and a lot more!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Tee times are now available-- Edmonton edition

While they moan in Toronto and Vancouver and wonder what's gone wrong and what needs to be fixed, they're taking a totally different view of things in Northern Alberta.

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Considering they didn't make the playoffs, especially after last years exciting run gave them such a taste of success, they're handling the disappointment of this past season rather well in Oil town.

In fact, you get the feeling that if they had their druthers, they'd just award the Stanley Cup today, and drop the puck for the next season. Such is the anticipation of forward movement for next season. With plans to build a new arena apparently on the fast track, the rebuilding of the much vaunted franchise is also set to move into a fast new phase of development.

It may seem a tad optimistic, after all this is still a team that faltered at a key moment in the season when they had a chance to grab a playoff spot, still the rather remarkable late season run has taken away much of the sour taste that could have come with a season ending playoff miss.

Youth will be served in Edmonton in the 2008-09 season, some exciting young players began to show that they're ready for prime time on the NHL scene. Of course by tipping their hands the rest of the league will be ready next season, more than aware that the Oilers could soon be back on track, with a new batch of hard working youngsters ready to reclaim some hockey history for Northern Alberta.

While some of the Edmonton pundits remind their loyal readership of the failures of this season, the tone for the most part is that the worst is over and the rewards are soon due to come their way.

They're so giddy for the future it seems that maybe they won't even mind if the Calgary Flames win their second Stanley Cup. Well, ok, things aren't that serene in Edmonton, old animosities probably do die hard, if anything were to take their gaze away from next years potential it probably would be a Stanley Cup parade through the streets of their most bitter rival.

Now that would bring some nastiness back to Edmonton pretty quick, until then though it's all about the kids, the future and a chance to become a major participant once again in the quest for the Cup. To read the tea leaves in Edmonton these days, that quest could begin in a few short months when the new season gets underway.